By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDCOUCH — Donna High’s confidence never wavered Saturday. Not with its perfect district record on the line. Not with the Bravettes trailing by two games.
“We just knew we were going to win,” Donna’s Yvette Tamez said.
The certainly stemmed from their inspired play in Game 2, and they used that to storm back en route to 17-25, 23-25, 25-12, 27-25, 15-8 victory over Edcouch-Elsa to close out the first round of District 32-5A action.
“The whole team was like, ‘We need to fight for this because it’s not going to be easy,’” Tamez said. “We’re going to fight until the end. Fight until you hear the whistle.”
The No. 3 Bravettes (28-8, 7-0) were pushed to the brink of elimination Saturday, with No. 10 Edcouch-Elsa (16-16, 6-1) largely controlling the first and second sets.
From the outset, Donna led in Game 3, more than doubling the score following consecutive spikes from Tamez (16 kills) off feeds from Emily Cavazos for a 17-8 lead. Tamez again punched it over the net, as the Bravettes sealed the set after three consecutive E-E errors.
“I think just them understanding that we’re a good team and we have the ability to come back one point at a time helped,” Donna coach Cindy Viesca said.
In Game 4, the Lady Yellowjackets went up 9-8 following Cecelia Torres’ lone kill. It was enough to keep E-E ahead for most of the set, despite a resilient Donna team chipping away at the deficit.
Marina Martinez (23 kills, 86 digs, 7 aces) came up big, scoring on consecutive kills, including one over her head, to come to within 20-15. Then, she delivered a kill and two aces to force E-E to call for time clinging to a 22-18 edge.
Tamez and Allison Loredo continued to work in unison, connecting on back-to-back scores to make it 24-all. It was Kara Yanez’s ace that inched Donna High ahead 26-25 for the first time in that set since leading 3-2. Tamez then capped a 14-5 run with a block-kill that gave the Bravettes all the momentum they needed going forward.
“Coach said she wasn’t in a rush (to leave),” Tamez said. “We could be here four sets, five sets. Whatever. Until we win.”
Donna ripped off an 8-0 run with Tamez serving up three aces to go up 11-4. She finished with 4 blocks, 6 digs and 4 aces as Donna completed the comeback.
“Being down 2-0 and winning three in a row, that’s a pretty awesome feeling,” Viesca said. “It was a big game for us. For both teams. It was a tough battle. But I’m glad we came out on top. They have a good team (at Edcouch-Elsa).”
The win gave the Bravettes some relief, capping the end of the first round with a victory against one of their biggest threats at a district title.
“I think the second round is going to be tough, but winning a match like this is going to help the rest of the matches,” Viesca said.
A year ago, Donna finished in fifth place, missing the playoffs. Now, the Braves are in contention to hoist a 32-5A crown.
“If we got 7-0 (in district), we could get 14-0,” Tamez said. “We want to be district champions.”
The loss marked a disappointing end to what had otherwise been a successful lap through district, in which the Lady Yellowjackets turned heads by starting 6-0 in district, despite an overall record one game above .500 (16-15).
“It’s a setback because we were in such a roll and we have worked so hard to get to where we are,” E-E coach Ofelia Griffith said. “So, in this case, it’s a wakeup call. We still have to work on that part of our game, making sure that we stay consistent.”